EN: Good Morning, everyone! I hope you’re well and that the heat is not getting to you. We’ve had the fan running since April and even our cat Henry comes to lie on the bed at night, so that he can catch some cool air, the poor thing! Right, let’s get down to Business! My new favourite shirt the ULTIMATE SHIRT by Sew Over It! I was lucky enough to get to test their new online class, before it was released and ladies (and gentlemen!) this is the kind of course I’ve wanted to take since forever.

EN: If you’ve been intimidated by sewing up a shirt so far, don’t look any further than this course. Lisa holds your hand and teaches you every step you’ll need to make up the perfect shirt. The course also supplies you with tutorials on how to get the right fit, from how to make swayback adjustments, to protruding bellies, to shoulder adjustments, you name it , they have it. For those of you, who’ve made a shirt before, you might still learn useful skills. My collars have never looked this good, after using their instructions!

EN: In addition to the Ultimate Shirt, the course also offers the Hackney pattern FOR MEN! Yes, you read that right! SOI walks you through sewing up the most professional looking men’s shirt with the perfect fit. I’ve already bought fabric to make my long suffering Mister a shirt, he deserves it!!

EN: And since I’m a bit bonkers, I decided to sew up 3 shirts in 2 weeks! All three fabrics are from France, the one with the geometric print is from Atelier Brunette, that I got at their online sale last summer. The other two fabrics are from Pretty Mercerie. I really like wearing these shirts to the office with jeans and I’m pretty sure, that I’m not done making up more of these shirts!

EN: Good morning, everyone! Work has officially got me firmly back in it’s grasp and I haven’t done any sewing after work in weeks… I will admit to going out to eat a lovely Vietnamese Restaurant with two of my favourite colleagues. Should you ever find yourselves in Landshut, do go and have dinner at Nem. I always order their Pho Bo, because I love Pho and have started making it myself from scratch, even though it takes HOURS to cook! Enough about food, let talk about sewing!

EN: LIsa Comfort the lady behind Sew Over It, started publishing a quarterly Sewing/DIY magazine this year, that you can order either in digital or paper form. I chose to subscribe to the digital magazine because once I saw the dress it was Game over for me. Lea, the dress is an homage to the dress worn by Lea SEYDOUX, the Bondgirl in “SPECTRE” in the desert scene. While I thought Monice Bellucci was the better Bondgirl I did adore the dress in the movie, which is why I squealed, when I saw that I could now make my own version of the dress. YAS!!

EN: I uploaded the file to my favourite copy shop, but they were having technical difficulties , because of a homepage upgrade, which is why I had to wait an entire week (THE HORROR!!) on my pattern. The good news is, that the copy shop is running smoothly again and I managed to get my sew on. I shopped my stash, because it’s really out of control and I need to be strict with myself. I had originally planned to use white crepe by Stoff and Stil but it turns out I did not have enough fabric to make the dress with…. thankfully, I had this lovely Liberty Tana Lawn and used that instead.

EN: Unfortunately, I did have to paly a game of pattern piece Tetris (and now you have the Tetris song in your head!) and had to ignore the grain line.. that being said, I had no issues with the grain line. I cut a size 12 using the finished measurements a my go to guide. And lengthened the bodice by 1 inch, something I do with all the SOI patterns. I used some vintage glass buttons I got on Ebay years ago, when I was an avid knitter and used to turn out 11 Cardigans a year… WHY DID I STOP KNITTING??? I found the construction of the dress to be rather similar to the SOI Vintage Shirtdress and I really adore the lines of the skirt. What I liked even better, was that I didn’t have to do any adjustments!

EN While I think the dress didn’t turn out half bad, I do feel that there is room for improvement. I chose to use a lawn instead of viscose and it shows with the lack of drape and that the neckline stand off a bit. The next time I will stick with the fabric recommendation. I also feel like the neckline is a bit too deep…. I sewed in a snap above the top button but I still feel a bit insecure about it. I think I will have to raise the neckline a bit on the next version, or take up the shoulders a bit? I haven’t decided yet.

EN: My partner took my Picture in front of the apple tree in our garden and I am thrilled with how the photos turned out. I think the Dress definitely screams summer and I am sure that I will be making up another, soon!

EN: Good morning everyone! I had planed to show you another dress on my blog today, I had even written the blogpost but after I put on the dress last night, to finally take some pictures, I decided that the straps needed to be shortend, which is why I’m showing you my new Eve dress, instead!

EN: I have already sewn Eve before and chose to make up version 2 in a size 10, again. I used a viscose, that I bought at the Birmingham Ragmarket, that you can also order here for a very competitive price (you’re welcome!!). This time I actually used stay tape on the neckline from the get go, and there was noooo stretching!!!! It seems, this old dog, can learn new tricks.

EN: Constructing the dress, was very quick and easy and this time I chose to sew the entire dress on my machine instead of sewing the hem by hand. I actually made the dress, because I attended a classical concert over the weekend with my Mister and his parents, in Magdeburg. The concert was held in an old monastery, where they had this light display, that I thought was very tongue-in-cheek.

EN: A number of years ago the wonderful Lisa Comfort of Sewoverit uploaded the Eve Dress on the Sewoverit IG account. I fell head over heals the moment I saw the dress and then was completely distraught, when I found out she was only (at that time) going to be a class you could take in one of their London shops…. and just when I thought all was lost, Lisa announced in her Xmas Vlog, that Eve would be one of the dresses, Sewoverit would release in 2017. *insert me doing a victory dance here!*

EN: I was very lucky, that Sewoverit contacted me, the week before the pattern was released and invited me to their launch party, *insert me doing the victory dance on top of a table here* And then 3 days before the party, I caught the mother of all colds/sinus infections… I thought I was dying… I KID YOU NOT!!!! I was absolutely gutted, that I couldn’t make the party, but once I started feeling a bit better, I decided to sew up the dress.

EN: I chose a Silk Liberty fabric, that I got from Shaukat last year (I also bought it in another colorway, but I have yet to decide what to make up with it) and chose to make up view 2 with the straight skirt as I am starting to fall out of love with the high-low hem. The instructions were great as usual and all the notches of the pattern matched up as well, which made construction a total breeze. However, I made the terrible mistake of not listening to the instructions, when they tell you to stabilize the neckline with stay-tape…. I didn’t have any stay-tape, so I just stay-stitched the neckline and then hand stitched everything down… and…. IT BAGGED OUT LIKE CRAZY!!!! WHY????? I put out an SOS on IG and sooo many lovely ladies including Sewoverit got in touch with me and told me how I could fix my boo-boo. I used lots of steam, and my dear friend Victoria (shout-out to you, Vee!) hooked me up with proper stay-tape!!! Disaster averted!! I hand stitched all the hems, including those on the sleeves using rayon thread from Guetermann, definitely worth the effort!

EN: All I can say, is that I adore this dress, I love the sleeves and the way it drapes and next time, I will absolutely do as I am told and not try to wing it!!! I do recommend using very drapey fabric such a silk or viscose for this pattern, anything else would not make it drape as nicely. Also I see, many more Eves in my future, even a long sleeved one, maybe in dark jewel tones for Autumn/Winter? I think they would work really well in my work wardrobe.

EN: As spring has FINALLY decided to grace us, I decided to document a few garments I sewed up last year and never bothered properly posting on Instagram. So Ladies and Gentlemen, I present both the Sewoverit Pussy Bow Blouse and the Rosari Skirt by Pauline Alice.

EN:As mentioned before I really love the patterns by Sewoverit, I’ve made up this particular blouse at least 6 times, it fits straight out of the packet and the construction is easy. The fabric is a John Kaldor Crepe de Chine I bought at Barry’s at the Sewbrum Meet-up 2 years ago. I cut a straight size 10, but would go up a size the next time (too much fish and chips for me!). I don’t think I needed more than an afternoon to make this blouse, I’ve worn it on heavy rotation for the past year and the fabric hasn’t faded at all which speaks volumes for investing in good fabric.

EN:I must confess, that I bought the Rosari pattern the moment it was released and then took more than a year to make it up. UPS! I used a stretch denim from Higgs and Higgs, and also bought it in pale blue and pink for future projects. Yes, I am most definitely a fabric hoarder. I felt the short length on the skirt would have been too short on me and therefore chose to go between both lengths, which turned out really nice. I love the little pockets and they weren’t even hard to sew at all, I do recommend hand sewing the pleats together before you machine stitch the pockets to the skirt. I later ripped out the stitches, I think they look much neater this way. I’d like to make this skirt again perhaps using different pockets, Pauline actually gives you three options, which is plenty.

For further fun outfits, please check out these amazing ladies on today’s MeMadeMittwoch!

EN:I think it’s safe to say, that we are all waiting for spring to finally arrive and to start wearing clothes with colors!

When Sewoverit released their Tulip Skirt last year, I was on it like white on rice, I printed it off, chose the fabric and then promptly forgot to make it up. THE HORROR!! I still had a meter of blush twill left over from my first Luzerne coat and thought it would make a great Spring wardrobe staple. I WAS RIGHT!

I think it took me exactly 2 hours to cut and sew this skirt, which also included hand sewing the hem, for a nicer finish. I cut a straight size 12 and added 1.5 inches for length. So far, I’ve always had really great experiences with Sewoverit. All the notches matched up and the instructions are clear and easy to understand. I didn’t have enough fabric to sew the waistband in one, so there is a seam in the middle, at first this really annoyed me, but I have since decided it’s a cool design feature. SORTED!! I used an invisible zipper that went in without a hitch ( is it me, or do these kinds of zips go in perfectly the first time or you have to unpick it 30 times? yes, no??? Let me know!!)

EN: So the Holly Blouse! This is the first time I’ve ever used a Style Arc pattern, I’ve been admiring their vast range of ready to wear patterns, that are all so on trend and finally pulled the trigger and I ordered a pattern off Amazon, so I’d have it by the next day, which I think is just brilliant! My love for bow blouses is well documented on my IG account, but I decided to branch out and try a new pattern.

I chose a very nice white silk crepe and cut out all the pieces with a rotary cutter, which worked out really well. I cut out a size 10 and didn’t change a single thing. The construction is quite simple if you’ve sewn a few blouses before, the instructions are limited, but they do give you a few pointers which is helpful. The other thing that you might want to take into consideration, is that the seam allowance is only 1 cm, I personally thought that was more than enough to make French seams with it, because PRETTY INSIDES!!

I used a very light weight interfacing for the cuffs and the facings and sewed with Rayon thread from Gütermann. I read somewhere that cotton thread can be a bit to heavy for silk fabric and might make the seams look a bit puckered. I actually bought a whole bunch of this stuff at the last Hobbycraft sale where all the Gütermann thread was going for half the price!!!!

EN: As no spring outfit is complete without a proper coat, in the UK, I made another Deer and Doe Luzerne trench coat. For this version I used a cotton canvas from Barry’s in Birmingham, as the fabric was a bit see through, I opted to interline it was an interfacing meant for wool coats. The interlining made the fabric drape really nicely and it also made it opaque, WIN-WIN. I cut a straight size 40 and lengthened the skirt by 2 inch, I also used some vintage glass buttons from my stash that kind of blend into my coat, which isn’t a bad thing per say…

I made bias binding out of left over Liberty I had in my stash, however.. IT DOESN’T GO WITH MY COAT AT ALL… AT ALL!!!! WHAT WAS I THINKING?? Anyway, I’ve decided nobody but I will see it, so there’s that. Construction wise this took a lot less time to make up the second time round. My bound button holes look sooooo much neater, I finished watching Emerald City on catch-up TV and had a brand new coat. =D

I love it so very much, and must now sewing many new outfit that go with it, so I can wear it out! #nevernotsewing

So this is my way of reigning in Spring, I want all the pastel colors and the fun outfits.

Also, have a look at all the other fabulous spring outfits on today’s MeMadeMittwoch!

Now to be fair, I don’t usually celebrate Valentine’s Day, the Mister thinks it’s a silly capitalistic invention to sell sappy cards, chocolates and flowers… he might be right.. but this girl actually likes chocolates, sappy cards and flowers! So this year we went for a meal (we actually went on Saturday, as the Mister had to fly back to Germany on Sunday – BOOO! for long distance relationships!) and I thought this would be a fantastic occasion for a new dress!

If you’ve been following me on IG for the past few years, you know how much I love The Vintage Shirtdress by Sewoverit. The pattern has a wonderful notched collar, cuffed elbow length sleeves, super swishy skirt and looks lovely in any fabric.

I chose this poly-cotton heart fabric from Adam Ross, which has been in my stash since last year, when I and my good pal Victoria visited their premises in Birmingham. I marveled at their unbelievable stock, it’s like IKEA for fabrics, I kid you not! They have a wonderful selection of fabrics (check out their viscose section, it’s to die for) and a very lovely team running the enterprise (hello Jas!), so check them out!

Coming back to the pattern, I cut out a size 8, going by the finished measurements and using a 1 cm seam allowance instead of a 1.5 cm seam allowance, to be very honest, I should have sized up, which I will, if I make another sleeveless version in summer. I lengthened the bodice by 1 inch which is a pretty standard adjustment I make on all my garments and I also lengthened the skirt by 1 inch because my last version was a bit short. I serged all the raw seams, because I love it, when the insides are as pretty as the outsides.

I even made self-covered buttons for the first time in my life – they are not perfect, but I still think they are rather cute. I kept some scrap fabric, so I might actually redo the buttons in the future…or not. I did sew in a tiny snap between the first and second button, to ensure that there would be no “wardrobe malfunction”(!!!), which worked out really well.

So if you haven’t tried this pattern …DO IT! I cannot recommend it enough. All in all this dress is a winner – did you guys sew anything for Valentine’s Day?

PS: If any of you know how to change the font color into white, please let me know… I knowthe text is bleeding into the picture… I just have no idea how to change it!